How would you change the racing world?

In reply to triumph5:

Like all the other top series where the cars run production based motors, like F1, Indy, LMS ...

I doubt Toyota lost much sleep copying a Chevy engine compared to what they wasted to be also rans in F1

My two ideas:

1) local level: Start a run what you have track that has a 2 day event. Show up at your appointed time and have your car weighed, dyno run, and then parked and sealed off from everybody. Day two is the race with you being given the option to add ballast or take a delayed start kind of like drag racing. A 2 hour race with a lap limit set too.

2) national or international: start a multi discipline challenge. Drivers have to go from a Nationwide stock car to an F1 car to a rally car to a drag car to a midget or outlaw to. . . whatever. No more bickering about who is the best driver and how F1 drivers are better than Nascar and Nascar drivers can only turn left.

I would go back to open trailers and box trucks. In '67 Richard Petty won 27 races with one car behind a box truck. Why should a 2000lb plastic car need 78,000lb + of support equipment? Bring the car, an extra engine and run the race. I went to the Nascar East race at Lime Rock last year, which is supposed to be entry level. The top teams like Michael Waltrip had a 53ft trailer plus a second trailer for everything that didn't fit. It shouldn't be that complicated.

Why should a 2000lb plastic car need 78,000lb + of support equipment?

Let's throw out the weight of the hauler....that equipment is needed to deliver the best results to the high dollar sponsors who are expecting results. And the team has to have any equipment that might be needed for track conditions--to get the best results and keep the sponsor...That Nacar race is more than a little bit from entry level, too. Regardless how Nascar tries to portray it.

I want to see a wild mix of cars on the grid; I want racing to be interesting... I want to see a series in which lots of teams bring a host of varied creative responses to a minimal rules package:

The car must:

-Be driven by a human

-Pass certain safety parameters.

-Use a spec tire.

-Use a 4-cycle piston engine of 900cc displacement, otherwise the engine formula is open.

-Have a traditional clutch and gear shift lever.

-Not weigh less than 1200lbs.

+There is a rectangle drawn on the pavement. The car must fit inside it.

+Nothing on the car can be adjusted wirelessly from the pits.

Most of the people seem to want to go back in time to what they feel was the ideal racecar. What has changed since then in every type of racing? Computers and the amount of stuff that people drag around. Since you can get a phone that can manage a trip to the moon banning computers is going to be tough, but even into the 70's where a lot of people seem to want to go you could put three cars on a converted bus chassis and compete for a Grand Prix win.

less practice- NASCAR and F1 teams get hours of practice before the actual race.. limit it to 1/2 hour on the morning of the race, with qualifying scheduled to end about an hour before race time. they all claim to be the best drivers in the world, so they don't need all that practice time, anyways.

i don't know if any other series does it, but NASCAR needs to get rid of that rule where the top 35 teams in the points standings are automatically in the race. past champions provisionals also need to go, as well. if you aint fast enough, too bad.. go back to the shop and figure out how to get faster for the next race. this would provide motivation for smaller teams and up and coming drivers to put more effort into actually qualifying and would make the big dollar sponsors think twice about throwing so much money at the teams if they weren't guaranteed to get into the show, which would bring costs down and make teams put more emphasis on finding good drivers instead of a pretty face that brings a lot of sponsorship dollars.

I would forbid Fox from showing Formula 1 races on tape delay.

Woody FTW.... I missed the last F1 race 'cause I forgot it was on... so accustomed to a 7:30 am start.... got busy and oops race over

Save the Ring. Starting with a trial of those responsible for the failing hotel, busted rollercoaster, ect. Punishment will be to be trapped inside offening structures as they are demolished.

Maroon92 wrote: Le Mans (and abiding series) - no more equivalency crap...if the petrols aren't as fast as the diesels, TOO BAD...get faster.

You do know, the diesels would go away if you did that.

To some of the other posters-

I wonder if many of the suggestions would make things more interesting or not. Back when NASCAR was more stock, the racing wasn't all that great- drivers would win by multiple laps. Pre-TV and when they had small grand stands. Honestly, I don't know what a good solution would be, though.

Current trans-am- eh- I like the trans am in many of the other current series. They are pretty cool.

And how many of the suggestions would make racing favor the rich? While we love to think about CanAm, was it that interesting to see McLaren win every weekend? Or a year later, Porsche? I don't think anyone is going to look back at Schumacher's era and say that it was a golden age of F1....

Plus, once you get to a point, then you question futher investment. After Porsche dominated, they left. After Nissan dominated, they left. After Toyota dominated, they left.

Factoring all of that in. Makes this a very difficult question. How to keep the support so that sponsors (or whereever the money comes from) gets their money's worth.

racerfink wrote:

jlm_photo wrote: All racing: I agree with whoever said this above. Quit penalizing faster cars. "If you can't run with the big dogs, stay on the porch" And can I just say, I love watching Continental Sports car challenge.

Conti Challenge penalizes faster cars more than just about any other series out there.

I guess I was thinking about it from the standpoint of stock looking bodies, suspension pickup points, drivetrain layout...but you are right, I want the penalizing faster cars to stop. All that said...I still like watching F1 even with all of its shortcomings.

Lets get back to the "Race on Sunday, Sell on Monday" philosophical roots of factory racing.

Take one brand new randomly selected vehicle off a randomly selected dealer lot on Friday morning. Stick a cage and a set of tires on the thing and go racing on Sunday. Keep a MSRP cap on the game so the playing field is somewhat even.

Sell the car, or its remains, on Monday, and repeat for the duration of the season. Relatively cheap racing with zero maintenance and high spectator relevance. Also serious bragging rights to the winners.

I would watch it.

I would make F1 an engineers wet dream. Unlimited everything except safety, displacement cap and engines must last two races.

NOHOME wrote: Lets get back to the "Race on Sunday, Sell on Monday" philosophical roots of factory racing. Take one brand new randomly selected vehicle off a randomly selected dealer lot on Friday morning. Stick a cage and a set of tires on the thing and go racing on Sunday. Keep a MSRP cap on the game so the playing field is somewhat even. Sell the car, or its remains, on Monday, and repeat for the duration of the season. Relatively cheap racing with zero maintenance and high spectator relevance. Also serious bragging rights to the winners. I would watch it.

good theory, but NASCAR fans want to see cars going 200mph.. road race fans want to see cars that don't need to slow down to 20mph to take a turn that a real race car can take at 80mph.. and do you think it would really be cheaper to make teams spend $50k every week just to buy and build a new car?

as expensive as the top level cars are, it's probably cheaper, safer, easier, and puts on a better show to run tube chassis race cars.

Honestly, a higher budget version of Lemons with tighter cost controls would make great racing.

Okay, here we go. First: Racing is getting too friggin' expensive for the average goob. It's gotten to the point where if you don't have gigantic amounts of disposable income chances are you can't race. So I propose:

First and most important, multi tier spec racing capped by cost (but allowing inflation adjustments tied to currency markets) and not by how much high dollar tech you can cram into a given design. For instance, bottom rung = $20k car out the door and on the track, next step = $40k car, etc. There would need to be addressing of safety concerns first and foremost. It's nearly impossible to police spare parts costs so that wouldn't count. But it would bring out some mighty talented people looking to make the most from the least. In that respect it would probably be much like the Formula Junior, F3000 etc of old and would reward driver training and talent much more than just who can fling the most cubic dollars at something. Much like Colin Chapman's 'giant killer' Lotus Sevens with the 40 HP Ford flatheads.

NA$CAR would have to run the same powertrain their 'stock cars' do in real life. I bet you'd see some nice RWD machinery return to the streets about 10 minutes after that rule went into effect. No more 'silhouette' Camrys with Chevy knockoff engines! They'd also have to utilize an infield road course on every track.

There are already a number of races that run cars very close to stock. If you want to see them you can usually get into the tracks for free those days and sit anywhere you like. Meanwhile any event I've been to with expensive purpose built cars, be it Nascar Cup, IMSA, NHRA ect has had a line to get in. Why would any of those series alter their formula much if it's drawing paying fans?

I just ran an $8800 DIY E30 to a 16th, 13th and 4th overall finish this past weekend. There were mega-money cars out there and a few guys like me who are on a bit of a shoe-string but... we all had a blast.

If what people want is almost affordable, simple, close racing... it is out there. I can find a NASA, BMW or SCCA series to drive in every weekend of the year if I could afford the travel and upkeep. As it stands... I'll do 3 a year and be glad for the chance. What is wrong with racing is that the bleachers were empty except the families and friends of the people doing the racing. People need to get off their butts and come out and support it and the sponsors who already do (or better yet... suit up and come racing). Nothing sends a message like a crowd of paying customers.

NASCAR: Ban the restrictor plate, instead mandate track-provided 87 octane fuel. All engine tech becomes legal, but all engines must meet a homologation rule of 10,000 units (sold in the US). Tube-frame cars allowed, but exterior body panels must interchange with showroom model. Only RWD cars allowed (i.e. if Chevy wants to race an Impala, they better sell a RWD Impala).

I'd like to see a broader proliferation and more sanctioning body support for even more basic forms of grassroots racing and motorsports... the kinda stuff that is truly affordable.

In reply to Giant Purple Snorklewacker and others:

We all know there are events out there regularly to run, but I still dare say that they are less affordable than many (most?) of us can do. Seriously. Once you include stuff like HANS devices, driving suits, full cages, tow rigs, travel and lodging, etc., I'd bet that would eat up many of our yearly budgets for one event. Sad but true.

BTW, there are events and racing series out there (maybe not commonly in the US) that have much more minimal requirements, registration costs, etc... I'm thinking of the kind of regional stuff that happens in europe and south america, including door-to-door rallycross. And that stuff draws plenty of spectators in their regions. More of that please!

Quit penalizing Rotaries in all forms of motor sports perhaps?

Televise Lemons, Chumpcar and the Challenge. No other changes should be necessary.

I'd love to see weirdo comparisons.

At a drag strip, the four lane one in Charlotte. Up pull the cars, a Funny Car, a NASCAR, an F1 car and a the car that won the last Lemons race.

Behind the pace car at Daytona sit the Chumpcar champion, a RallyX car, a Sprint car, and autocross champion, and a slew of other weirdness.

Road Atlanta gets a shifter kart, a European Rally car, a V8 supercar from Australia, a ricey Honda Civic and a Stock Corvette ZR1.

darkbuddha wrote: BTW, there are events and racing series out there (maybe not commonly in the US) that have much more minimal requirements, registration costs, etc... I'm thinking of the kind of regional stuff that happens in europe and south america, including door-to-door rallycross. And that stuff draws plenty of spectators in their regions. More of that please!

See ZW's "Get insurance out of the game entirely" (paraphrased)

I wear a head and neck device, 3 layer suit, have SFI/FIA padding, belts, seats and such because I have to, because the series can't operate without insurance. To get insurance- they need rules to make the risk attractive to insurance.

I am not saying safety is a bad thing before I draw the eyre of the entire interwebz... but I have driven a faster lap wheel to wheel around Summit in a kart with a motorcycle helmet, pants and a tee than I ever will in an E30 no matter what motor I stuff in it. Good, sane impact protection for race cars has been replaced by over-the-top silliness in an effort to appease parties who make money buying risk without much science - they just copy whatever pro racing does... but my E30 will NEVER hit the turn four wall head on at Daytona doing 200mph - yet that is where we get our requirements.